Meet our Team

Dr. Ferrara is a Professor at the University of California San Diego Medical Center and a member of The National Academy of Sciences and has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Lasker Award and the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. His research on understanding the role of angiogenesis and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cancer development, led to the discovery that VEGF is a key mediator of angiogenesis associated with intraocular neovascular syndromes. This pioneering research led to the clinical development of a humanized anti-VEGF Fab (Ranibizumab, Lucentis®), which has also been approved as a therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), retinal vein occlusion and diabetic macular edema. Ranibizumab and other anti-VEGF agents have had a dramatic impact on the development of therapies for these blinding disorders. When Lucentis® (Ranibizumab) received FDA approval in late June 2006, the new macular degeneration drug was celebrated as a major medical breakthrough. Dr. Ferrara’s research also led to the development and approval of humanized anti-VEGF mAbs (Bevacizumab; Avastin®) for cancer treatment, with Avastin® being one of the bestselling cancer drugs over the last two decades. Lucentis® and Avastin® collectively achieved over $9 billion in sales last year.

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Pedram Hamrah, MD is an interim chair of ophthalmology, cornea specialist, and clinician-scientist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, with a focus on corneal immunology and neuroscience, ocular imaging (immuno-imaging), ocular surface diseases and corneal neuropathic pain. He is currently on faculty at the departments of Ophthalmology and Bioengineering at Tufts University, where he is the director of clinical research and director of the Center for Translational Ocular Immunology. In addition, he is a faculty member at the immunology, neuroscience, and cell, molecular and developmental biology graduate programs at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts. Throughout his career, he has focused on discovery, patient care and teaching. Dr. Hamrah currently serves on over a dozen editorial boards, is the associate editor for The Ocular Surface and TVST, section editor for Eye and assistant editor at Ocular Immunology and Inflammation.

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Dr. Pepose, a specialist in refractive surgery and corneal and external diseases, is the founder and Medical Director of the Pepose Vision Institute and held the Bernard Becker Chair in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is a consultant to numerous ophthalmic drug and device companies and serves as a Director and Chief Medical Advisor for Ocuphire Pharma. Dr. Pepose has been involved in over 40 clinical research trials, including registration trials for dry eye drugs, and has been the recipient of R-01 grant support from the National Eye Institute. He has served on the editorial boards of numerous prestigious journals, including the American Journal of Ophthalmology, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), Cornea, and The Journal of Refractive Surgery and has over 200 peer reviewed publications. Dr. Pepose, an ARVO Gold Fellow, is a recipient of the Cogan Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and the Life Achievement Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Pepose received an A.B. and M.A. in neurophysiology from Brandeis University and completed the M.D.-Ph.D. program at UCLA School of Medicine. He completed ophthalmology residency at the Wilmer Institute at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center and fellowship training at Georgetown University Medical Center.

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Mr Cerrone has a successful track record and extensive experience in the financing and restructuring of micro-cap biotechnology companies. He has founded ten biotechnology companies in oncology, infectious diseases and molecular diagnostics, and has taken seven of these companies to the NASDAQ Market and two to the Main Market and AIM Market in London. Mr Cerrone is Executive Chairman of Tiziana Life Sciences plc. Mr Cerrone co-founded Cardiff Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDF), an oncology company and served as its Co-Chairman; he was a co-founder and served as Chairman of both Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGYP) and Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCMKTS: CLSP), and was a Director of and led the restructuring of Siga Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIGA). Mr Cerrone also co-founded FermaVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and served as Chairman of the Board until its merger in September 2007 with Inhibitex, Inc. Mr Cerrone served as a director of Inhibitex, Inc. until its US$2.5bn sale to Bristol Myers Squibb Co in 2012.

Mr Cerrone is the Chairman and Founder of Tiziana Life Sciences plc (NASDAQ:TLSA) a Neuroinflammatory focused therapeutics company; Chairman and Co-Founder of Rasna Therapeutics Limited (OTCMKTS: RASP), a company focused on the development of therapeutics for leukaemias; Co-Founder of Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: HEPA); Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Gensignia Life Sciences, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company focused on oncology using microRNA technology; and Executive Chairman and founder of Accustem Sciences plc; and founder of BioVitas Capital Ltd.

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Dr. Jacob has over 35 years of extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries across multiple disciplines, including research and development, operations, business development, capital financing activities and senior management expertise. He has developed broad and influential contacts throughout the biopharmaceutical, financial, banking and investor communities. Dr. Jacob is the Co-Founder and former CEO and Chairman of Synergy Pharmaceuticals. During his time at Synergy, he served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman, and is the co-inventor of Synergy’s FDA-approved drug Trulance® which is currently marketed in the U.S. by Bausch Health, Inc. to treat functional GI disorders. Dr. Jacob is also the former CEO and Managing Director of Immuron Inc., an Australian biotechnology company dual-listed on the Australian ASX exchange and on NASDAQ. Dr. Jacob currently is Chairman of the Board of Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a public NASDAQ listed company with a drug in clinical development to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and is also on the Board of Directors of Cardiff Oncology, Inc., a NASDAQ listed public oncology company. He served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from May 2003 until January 2013.

Prior to his involvement with Callisto and Synergy, Dr. Jacob was at Monsanto/G.D. Searle, where he was Director of Glycobiology and a Monsanto Science Fellow, specializing in the field of Glycobiology and drug discovery. Dr. Jacob holds over 30 patents and is the co-inventor of two pharmaceutical drugs which are FDA approved. Dr. Jacob earned a B.S. cum laude in Chemistry from the University of Missouri, St. Louis and holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

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Willy Jules Simon is a banker and worked at Kredietbank N.V. and Citibank London before serving as an executive member of the Board of Generale Bank NL from 1997 to 1999 and as the chief executive of Fortis Investment Management from 1999 to 2002. He acted as chairman of Bank Oyens & van Eeghen from 2002 to 2004. Willy Simon has been the chairman of Bever Holdings, a company listed in Amsterdam, since 2006 and Chairman of Ducat Maritime since 2015. He is also a non-executive director of Tiziana Life Sciences plc.

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Mr. Brancaccio, retired CPA, is a financial executive with extensive international and domestic experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology for privately and publicly held companies. From 2000 to 2002, Mr. Brancaccio was the Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer of Eline Group, an entertainment and media company. From May 2002 until March 2004, Mr. Brancaccio was the Chief Financial Officer of Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biotechnology company. From April 2004 until May 2017, Mr. Brancaccio was the Chief Financial Officer of Accelerated Technologies, Inc., an incubator for medical device companies. Mr. Brancaccio is currently a director of Cardiff Oncology, Inc., Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Rasna Therapeutics, Inc., and Tiziana Life Sciences plc.

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Bernard F. Denoyer has 49 years of financial management experience including his service as Senior Vice President, Finance and Secretary of development stage Synergy Pharmaceuticals, Inc, from July 2008 until FDA approval and his retirement in June 2017. Between 2004 and January 2013 Mr. Denoyer concurrently served as Principal Financial Officer of Synergy’s former parent company, Callisto Pharmaceuticals, Inc. From October 2000 to December 2003, Mr. Denoyer was an independent consultant. Prior to this, Mr. Denoyer served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of META Group, Inc. Mr. Denoyer earned his CPA with Ernst & Young in 1975. He received a Masters Certificate of Accounting from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1974, an MBA in Finance with honours from Columbia Business School in 1972 and a BA in Economics from Fairfield University in 1969. Mr. Denoyer is fluent in French and studied in Paris at l’Istitut d’Etude Politique et Economique in 1968. He is currently serving on the Board of Trustees for two not-for-profits, St. Edmunds Retreat, Inc. and Midwestern Connecticut Council on Alcoholism, Inc.

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